SAGINAW, MI — A management-level Saginaw County Road Commission employee was very close to being fired, according to leadership, when he decided to quit on June 4.

Randell F. Emeott, 60, was suspended from work without pay on May 27. At the time, Emeott served as the commission's fleet and facilities manager, which made him responsible for the vehicles and buildings maintained by the entity.

Road Commission Director Dennis Borchard said he decided to suspend Emeott after staff found "questionable invoices" for items purchased with public funds that appeared to be for Emeott's personal vehicle.

Borchard said he was shocked when staff presented him with those invoices.

"It's just very disappointing that you'd have an employee take advantage of their position," he said.

Emeott later was charged with a single misdemeanor charge of embezzlement. He was arraigned on that charge June 26 and pleaded not guilty.

Borchard said Emeott would likely have been fired at that point but had quit three weeks earlier.

"If it would have went a few more days and after charges would have been filed, he would have been fired at some point," Road Commission Chairman Todd Hare said.

According to Mike Girard, director of finance and benefits for the road commission, Emeott would be entitled to his pension through the Municipal Employees' Retirement System whether he was fired or quit.

"There's really no difference between quit, being fired and retirement in terms of pension benefits," Girard said. "They all mean the same thing."

After 13 years with the Saginaw County Road Commission, Emeott was earning about $63,000 a year.

When adding together all the factors, he said, Emeott will be receiving a monthly payout of about $1,877 from his pension, which adds up to about $22,500 annually.

Randell F. Emeott

Emeott's pension was funded through contributions from both the employee and the road commission, Girard explained.

"It's done," he said.

Girard said healthcare benefits for any retired employee become an ongoing cost for the road commission. That funding requirement lasts for the rest of that retiree's life, he said.

Girard said Emeott will receive retiree health care benefits for himself and his family that cost the Saginaw County Road Commission roughly $1,000 each month. That cost will be reduced to closer to $300 per month once Emeott reaches the age of 65, Girard said, since it will then transition to a Medicare supplement plan.

Though attorneys for the county road commission still are exploring the issue, he said current policy dictates that Emeott also would have received health benefits if he had been fired.

"If you qualify for the pension, you qualify for the health care," Girard said.

He quoted the following section of the road commission's union contract:

"Retired employees who qualify for benefits under MERS, shall have the same benefits as active employees as described in Section 1, provided that employees who receive Medicare benefits will have those benefits coordinated with those provided by Employer to avoid duplication of payments."

He said that language might be changed in future road commission employment contracts.

Hare said contracts and policies will likely be reviewed to determine if retiree health benefits can be denied to fired employees.

"You don't expect this to happen," Hare said. "Unfortunately this is where we are, and it brings up some of these gaps in the policy that we need to clear up."

He said Emeott, as a management employee, is not a union member covered under the road commission's union contracts. But Hare said non-union employees are, in general, extended the same benefits and rights as stipulated in the contracts.

"We tend to default back on treating them similarly to union employees," he said. "Non-union usually gets whatever benefits the unions get. We try to keep them in sync as much as possible."

Emeott submitted a resignation request shortly after he was suspended without pay on May 27.

The road commission called a special meeting on June 4 to discuss the issue. Hare said the members went into a closed session to discuss the employee's request to resign.

Minutes show that, once the road commission came back into its open session, no vote was taken on the issue.

"We chose not to act," Hare said. "Then he quit."

Since an investigation was pending at the time, the board wanted to wait before making any final decision about Emeott, the chairman said.

"There was no criminal charges at that time," Hare said. "When questions are still being asked and people are still interviewing and investigating, we thought it was not appropriate yet to take action."

The following timeline details the sequence of major events in the case so far:

April 2001 — Emeott is hired at the road commission

May 27, 2014 — Emeott is suspended from work without pay

June 2 — Road commission staff meets with Emeott

June 4 — Board meets in closed session, does not accept initial resignation

June 4 — Emeott "voluntarily quits" road commission

June 25 — Misdemeanor embezzlement charged filed

June 26 — Emeott is arraigned, pleads not guilty

Borchard said Emeott wrote a check to his former employer for the amount staff believes he improperly spent, though Girard said that check has not yet been cashed.

The director said, more than anything, he wants to ensure any and all public funds are restored.

"To me, personally, it's criminal when you do something like this," Borchard said.

He said Emeott's position of fleet and facilities manager was absorbed by other members of the road commission staff. There are no immediate plans to fill that position, Borchard said.

Emeott faces a pre-trial hearing in Saginaw County District Court at 2 p.m. July 31.